Don't Break the Oath
by Ophelia'song
Summary: When Raven receives an old box of unknown origins, she begins looking for answers. But what she finds may destroy her life beyond repair and possibly even her friends, as she finds it all stems from an oath made long before her birth. (Based on horror, myth, folklore and anything even remotely horrifying. Enjoy!)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello my little ones! So I just want to say for those of you wandering why haven't updated **_**The Art of suicide**_**, I just want to say that I have not abandoned it. I just recently acquired a beta reader and they are taking a bit longer than expected to do the corrections. I hoping to have the update up in the next couple of week, so keep your fingers crossed. But in other news I have been itching to write this story for a while so in the sprite of Halloween I thought there was not better time! No I want to point out that even though this is another Teen Titans fanfic it has nothing to do with **_**The Art of Suicide **_**and is a completely different plot. This story is very dear to my heart not just because it's horror story, but because it's inspired by story arches and characters from King Diamond stories (who most of you have never heard of) as well as myth and folklore. I'm hoping these elements make for a good classic horror story that will live up to all I hope will. So here it is, enjoy!**

**With Love -Ophelia**

**Chapter 1**

**Nothing Good**

_There's a path running under the city,_

_where the stones and the hills divide._

_There's a path we can walk through the loss and the pity._

_-The Birthday Massacre_

Raven walked the dark street alone under the menacing moon light. The old dirt road left little comfort, and was tunneled by thick trees, leaving a thin path that seemed to be caving in on her. She felt uneasy as her steps quickened and the silence grew even more haunting with every step. Not a soul could be seen in sight and the only light was coming from the very few street lamps that dimly lit the way (most of which flickered and threatened to burn out, leaving her to the night's mercy.)

In the distance a faint symphony of voices could be heard singing through the darkness. Still, there was no one to be seen, but the shadows loomed around her. Raven began to follow the voices as they grew closer. The singing was sinister as the lyrics began to reveal themselves as an old nursery rhyme. Their rhythm seemed unnatural and robotic leaving a chill on her spine that wouldn't subside.

As her steps brought her further she peered through the threes, looking for something that went unseen by her eyes. Only finding more shadows looking back at her from their dark corners where she dared not go. After following the sound, she finally felt a presence that was close, too close. She paused and looked from side to side trying to locate the source of the voices.

She paused when she reached the end of the road to find an old abandoned house. The Victorian style structure stood tall in the night. Its white paint took on hues of gray in the blue cast of the moonlight with its windows blinded by plywood and nails. Leaving the house constructed in a dark eerie manner. As Raven stood before its darkness, she felt something familiar calling her in. Still she couldn't quite bring herself to enter the broken building, even with its haunting nostalgic nature pulling at her will.

Raven took a deep breath and turned around, only to find that she truly wasn't alone. In front of her stood three small children, each of them a different age. They stood directly under the flickering street light and didn't say a word. The tallest and presumed oldest stood in the middle, flanked by a small girl with pigtails, wearing a white dress and a slightly younger boy in overalls. In the oldest boy's hands he held a box that radiated of evil, which caused Raven to shudder. All three held their heads downward, keeping their eyes from her sight.

Raven wasn't sure why, but she found herself frightened of the three children in front of her. They seemed odd and unnatural, their skin was a stark white that lacked life and appeared slightly blue under the street light. As though the very warmth of breath didn't exist within them. Her fear of them only grow more as all three looked up at her to reveal the solid, black eyes that burned her with their sinister stares.

Raven gasped and drew back, holding her arm up like a shield. The children didn't move, but refused to take their soulless eyes off her. The tallest one then held out the old box and said in a mature voice that lacked any childish virtue, "We are coming to collect you."

Just then Raven shot upright in fear, only to find herself in the safety of her room. The dark walls provided comfort, yet oddly she still didn't feel quite at ease. Her anxiety was driven even further when she looked at the time that read 3 O'clock.

She let herself fall back, hitting her pillow with a force. She wasn't sure if her dream meant anything and it probably didn't, but the hour didn't sit right with her. Nothing good ever happen at 3 O'clock.

She never fall back to sleep; she never could. If she woke up at 3 O'clock, than she was _awake_ at 3 O'clock. After lying in bed for an hour she finally got up and began meditating, going over her thoughts and settling her mind. Doing her best to ignore her nightmare and put it to rest with the many others that haunted her. When she was finished she was relieved to find that morning had finally come. She still wasn't sure what to make of her nightmare, but then again she never did. Nightmares were an occurring part of her life, both in consciousness and unconsciousness. To an extent she was used to them. She had a cruel mind and she knew she couldn't escape it. Her demons would follow her wherever she went.

When she finally arrived in the main room, she found the others had already made their way out as well. Cyborg was making breakfast, while Robin was busy scouring the newspaper for leads. Starefire was trying to break up the fight Beast Boy had started with Cyborg over what kind of bacon and eggs they should have for breakfast. This kind of behavior annoyed Raven, but she couldn't help, but feel a smile tug at her lips as she made her way toward the tea kettle.

"Greetings, friend Raven, did you have a glorious slumber?" questioned the green eyed alien girl.

"Ah, it was absolutely thrilling," Raven said in her sarcastic tone. She looked around the room to find one Titan was missing as she realized the thin blond was no were to be found.

"Where's Tara?" Raven asked with suspicion. She never really trusted Tara and the fact she'd betrayed the team in the past just didn't sit right with her.

"She went out to the bay," Beast Boy replied, taking time out of his argument to answer the question of where his missing love had gone.

Raven only shook her head. She really could've cared less where Tara went. To be perfectly honest, she probably would've thrown a silent celebration if she'd heard the girl was gone for good.

Raven then filled her kettle with water and placed it on the stove. Normally while waiting for her water to boil she would have taken a seat next to Robin. Who was too deep into his paper to notice anything taking place around him. She rolled her eyes and took seat next to Cyborg. This way she could assist him in his noble fight to rid the breakfast table of all things tofu.

After a few banters, the argument finally came to an end with Beast Boy's defeat. Once again Cyborg and his tofu free campaign were victorious. Raven got up when she heard the sound of the kettle screaming her name. Once she pulled the kettle off the stove she took out a lemon tea bag and let it steep a moment before taking it back to her room. As she began to pour a small amount of sugar into her cup she noticed Robin finally look up at her. _Oh now he notices me, _she thought with a long sigh. She had grown tired of his games and tried of him pushing her to be more open.

She placed the sugar bowl down and picked up her tea. Hell bent on making it back to her room without having to speak to the Boy Wonder. However, just as she was about to make her way out of the room, she felt a gloved hand wrap around her free arm. She turned to find exactly who she'd expected to see. Robin standing in front of her with the _very obvious_ words hanging from his lips, "We need to talk."

"I don't want to talk," Raven insisted, trying to shoot down the young man's proposal.

"Raven please, I'm sorry," he pleaded as he followed her.

"I know you are, but that doesn't mean I'm ready to talk about it," she said with no emotion and continued walking.

"Haven't you forgiven me yet?"

"Yes."

"Then why won't you talk to me?" Robin said trying to keep his voice down.

"Because forgiveness doesn't mean I want to talk to you," she snapped, but still keeping her voice low enough so the others couldn't hear. "Besides you and I both know it's just going to be the same conversation we always have."

"Because eventually you have to accept that we have to tell them," Robin said trying to reason with the girl.

"I know, but I'm not ready to tell them," she stated. But before the conversation could continue any further, Starfire's voice could be heard loud and clear.

"Friend Terra, what is that you possess?"

"I don't know, I found it at the front door," Terra's voice replied, "there is a note here addressed to, Raven?"

Raven who was trying to use this distraction as I diversion to leave, turned in confusion. Robin then looked back at the girl with a questioning look as she delivered her own in return. Raven began to move forward with Robin following beside her. She could see a wooden box sitting on the table waiting for her. Approaching it she could sense a strange feeling come over her. It was becoming thicker with each step and she couldn't help but feel as though something was trying to provoke fear in her. Robin who was at her side could feel something shifting in her. He knew she was already a bit agitated with him, but this was far different.

When they finally reached the table, Robin could see Raven's caution as she didn't dare touch the box. It was extremely old and made of a thick, sturdy wood. It didn't possess any visible locks or seams. Strange carvings covered its aged surface and appeared to be foreign words that nobody recognized.

"Where did you say you found this?" Raven asked in a puzzled voice.

"Outside, it was practically on our door step," Terra said.

"You didn't open it right?" Raven asked with hastiness to her tone.

"Of course not," Terra said a little defensive, "besides how could I? There aren't any seams."

"Good," Raven said short then hastily picked up the box, almost flinching as she took it in her hands.

"What's in that thing anyway? Terra asked before the dark girl could walk away.

"Nothing you want to know about," she replied trying to brush off the question then walked off out of view.

"Well that must be some secret," Beast Boy said in response to Raven's behavior.

The rest of the Titans were curious as to what Raven may have been hiding from them. But as always they knew that no matter how hard they pushed, she would continue to push back just as hard.

After Raven found the safety of her room, she locked the door and placed the dark box on her bed. She wasn't even sure what it was, she just knew whatever the box was made for, it wasn't good. Judging by the weight and the hollowed sound it made she could tell there was something inside. She was almost tempted to shake it as though she were a small child. There was something sinister about the box that tugged at her will. Coxing her to open it, but she knew better.

Before she could consult her books and find answers about the strange box. She heard a knock at her door. This didn't surprise her she knew he would come eventually. Raven then walked over to the door and unlocked it. Once she slid the heavy panel open she found him waiting patiently on the other side.

"Hey Rae, can I come in?" Robin asked curiously. He knew he was on thin ice with her. It was clear by the look in her eyes. Whenever she became weary with him they always cast the same smoldering stare that both frightened and captivated him.

"I didn't know, can you?" Raven said in all her irony. Another trait of hers Robin both loved and simultaneously resentenced.

"Come on Rae, I'm being serious," he pleaded as Raven turned and gave him an almost dismissive wave of her hand. "Does that mean we can talk now?"

Raven turned again and shook her head. She wasn't sure if she wanted to get into the details of their relationship that early in the morning. Ever since she started seeing Robin against the knowledge of her fellow teammates things between them seemed to become more _complicated._

"Why the hell not?" she said with a sigh of sarcasm.

"Why don't you want to tell the team about, _us_? It's been almost a year now," Robin said standing in front of her.

"Because if we tell them, then that gives them the right to have an opinion," she replied picking up her tea, but paused before taking a sip and said, "and I don't want them to have an _opinion_."

Robin flinched at her cynical tone. He knew that she was hesitant about what people thought of them. Or more so what people thought abouthim with _her_. She was different and most people feared her for it. Even her teammates still found her unnerving at times. She wasn't like them and that was what made her stand out. She reminded Robin of an ironic poem; shallow yet deep. Constantly saying one thing, but completely meaning another. She was like a living metaphor to him, she always kept him guessing. He could spend hours just listening to her and all the strange things she found intriguing. Yet at the same time she could appear empty and withdrawn. These were the moments he feared the most. He wanted to protect her, but he knew there were times when he couldn't. Which brought him to ask the better question.

"So what's with the box?"

Raven shook her head and hesitated to answer the question at first. It was a clear sign to Robin that whatever it was it scared the hell out of her.

"I don't know yet," she replied simply as he sat down on the bed beside her.

"Are you going to open it?"

"Whoever made this box has made it very clear that it should never be opened," she replied with a stern tone.

"Why do you say that?" Robin inquired.

"The box is nailed shut," she said with warning trying to covey her suspicions to him. "It also has no seams and no hidden locks. It was made to remain closed."

"To keep people out," Robin stated looking at the old relic.

"Or to keep something from getting out," Raven said in a grave tone, causing a chill to run up his spine.

"What do you think's in there?" he asked still curious of what could possibly invoke so much fear in her.

"Nothing good."

6


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So I would like to thank you guys for following and reading. I hope this update lives up to your standers. Special thanks to ****Emmeline C. Thronebrooke and xXRavenWingsXx for reviewing as well as Goldenrod51 for following. I really hope you like where this story is going, please share your thoughts and feel free to make suggestions.**

**With Love- Ophelia**

**Chapter 2**

**Who Are They?**

_She's out of the light, she thought it'd be safer._

_She said I wanna go home,_

_eyes turn grey like face in the paper_

_-The Birthday Massacre_

Raven placed the box in a chest she kept in the back of her closet. The things she kept locked inside of it were among some of the darkest secrets she'd ever known. Most of which would never again see the light of day. Robin stood at the doorway waiting for her to lock them away, knowing the things she kept there were better left forgotten and never asked about them.

When Raven emerged from the closet she placed the key in a drawer that had a false bottom. Robin knew of the drawer's hidden secret, though his knowing was purely by accident. He'd been looking for where she'd hid his communicator after a little argument they'd had about him _not _taking time off from work. So, to teach him a lesson she stole his communicator while he was in the shower and hid it in the last place he'd look; his bed. However, Robin thought she'd hid it somewhere in her room. Thinking he would _never_ go through her things without her knowing, (wrong) and stumbled on the false bottom by mistake.

Raven of course being as clever as she was knew right away what he'd done, but given the circumstances couldn't really be all that angry with him. However she never told Robin where his communicator was and he found it a month later when he final slept in his _own bed_. It was quirks like that that made their relationship interesting though. The fact that they knew each other so well, yet still found ways to surprise one another. They found moments like that refreshing and adventurous.

Raven looked at Robin after reinforcing the false bottom. She could see he still wasn't going to let their passed conversation go as he said, "So I guess we're not telling the team then?"

Raven sighed and sat down on her bed. She didn't want to deal with the repercussions and what they might think. She didn't want them getting involved in her relationship or asking questions about it.

"You know why we can't tell them."

"Raven Starfire can handle it. She's stronger then you give her credit for," Robin replied.

"Robin it's not that simple."

"Rae, Star and I broke up two years ago. It's over between us."

"She's still in love with you." Raven sighed in frustration not meaning to let something so personal slip.

Before Robin could respond, a loud piercing scream could be heard as it cut through the silence.

"Starfire," Robin gasped as the two ran out of the room and down the hall.

When they reached her room they swung the door open to find it empty, but then heard another scream come from the bathroom followed by a plea for help. Robin burst through the door followed by Raven who carried a look of worry on her face.

"Starfire, what's the matter, what's wrong?" Robin shouted.

"There! In the sink!" The frantic girl screamed.

Raven tried to calm the alien girl down as Robin approached the sink with caution, unsure of what he would find. For a moment the only sound that could be heard was the faucet running. Starfire had finally stopped screaming, which Raven's ears were grateful for, but the mystery of what was in the sink still held her anticipation. Once Robin reached the sink he slowly leaned over and peered in and to his surprise he found something _unusual._

"Star, that's a beetle."

"A beetle!" Raven hissed in frustration.

"Yes and it is most awful!" Starfire shouted in disgust. "You must dispose of it at once."

"For real?" Raven questioned shooting Robin a look of annoyance. She was grateful that her friend was not in any danger, but the fact that she was caring on about a simple beetle made Raven's eyes roll in disapproval. Especially because Starfire fought things far more frightening than an insect on a daily basis. So to see her lose it over something that could be defeated by the sole of ones shoe seemed rather ridiculous.

"Star it's fine I'll take it outside," Robin said.

Just then the other three Titans came barreling into the room.

"What happened?" Cyborg asked with worry as the other two looked curious for answers.

"Princess Starry Eye here just found a bug," Raven said brushing off the incident with her usual dry sense of humor.

"Holy shit I thought someone was being slaughtered back here," Beast Boy sighed in relief. "I thought we might have another _Wicked Scary _on our hands."

"Yeah, well you can't believe everything that happens in the movies," Raven interjected.

"Yeah Rae, you just keep telling yourself that, but I'm not the one who recreated the whole movie."

_Shit I forgot about that, _Raven thought, but recovered quickly by telling Beast Boy she would do it again if he didn't shut up.

While this banter was going on Terra approached the sink to see what the big deal was. She looked into the porcelain bowl to find a sleek, black beetle of great size, with six jagged legs and a slightly furry under belly. In the background the sound of her teammates could be heard discussing what should be done with it. She looked down at its head where two sharp pinchers could be found. She then slowly reached down with the beetle in her sights and took it in her hand.

"… So I'm gonna take it outside and let it…"

"Ouch!" Terra screamed causing the other Titans to look in her direction as she threw the beetle down and crushed it under her foot.

"Go," Robin said finishing his sentence out of irony.

"Ah! That damn thing bit me!" Terra scuffed pulling her foot off of the crushed insect's corpse, a trail of guts and other unmentionables clinging to the bottom of her boot. The gruesome sight causing the others to bear a look of disgust on their faces.

"Nice," Raven muttered dryly and left the room. "Well on that note, I'm gonna go try and repress everything I just saw here today."

Robin tried to follow her, but before he could make it out of the room he felt the death grip of his ex-girlfriend smothering the life out of him.

"Oh, thank you Robin!"

"For what, I didn't do anything." Robin managed through what little breath he had.

"Don't be foolish, I requested your assistance and you came to destroy that awful creature." Starfire squealed.

While this was taking place Beast Boy was examining Terra's beetle bite.

"You ok, Terra?" He asked taking care not to touch the tiny wound. Though it wasn't deep or serious, it still possessed a painful appearance. The beetle had broken the skin causing it to bleed lightly. At this discovery he turned on the faucet and reached for a wash cloth. "This might sting a bit," he warned motioning the cloth toward Terra's hand.

"On second thought I think I'll just take care of it myself," The thin blond said with a hint of hesitation in her voice.

Beast Boy looked puzzled and questioned why the girl looked fearful of having him clean the bite. "Terra I'm sure it's not gonna be that bad."

Still she waved her hand in revolt and insisted that she would do it herself and left the room in a hurry. Cyborg looked at the green boy with a shrug as they both wondering what all the fuss was about.

Meanwhile Raven had finally reached the peace of her room and closed the door tightly behind her. By this time her tea had become lukewarm at best and her patience had been tested far beyond its limits. She found Starfire's outburst childish and irrational, not to mention Terra's brutal bug murder disgusting and disturbing. Not that she thought Terra to be cruel for doing it, but more so that she didn't need to see it.

Raven approached her bookcase and pulled out a large book, bounded in dark leather. Sitting down on her bed she began turning the pages looking for answers to the mysterious box. The old book was heavy and its dried leather face wore the age of wisdom. Its pages were discolored and delicate, threatening to tear under the greatest of ease. The inked words were written in an old tongue that most wouldn't recognize as Latin.

Raven was actually quite fluent in Latin as well as several other dead languages such as ostrogothic, Koiné, Celtiberian, Old Norse, and Mysian. Languages were something Raven had always been quite good at. Even as a child in Azarath she spent most of her days learning different languages from the world of her mother. Taking in all the different characteristics and structures of each individual language, but Latin was by far her favorite. She even became quite familiar with other Latin based languages, like French and Italian. Including older variations of the languages like old French and English. However, none of these languages resembled the words that had been carved into the box. This troubled Raven a bit. Not only did she not have any knowledge of what the box possibly contained, but she didn't even know what it was.

She began flipping through the pages looking for anything that could possibly hold answers to her many questions. After about an hour she closed the old book and placed it back on the shelf then moved to her desk. A few moments later she found herself rummaging through an old drawer, till her fingers felt the requested object resting at their tips. She pulled out an old piece of charcoal, followed by some loose sheets of paper. It was then Raven opened the drawer that contained the false bottom and pulled it free to retrieve the key. With all the objects in hand she entered her closet and opened the chest. She looked down at the old relic, its evil pouring out of the chest where it had been somewhat contained. With cautious hands she reached down and took the box in her grasp and placed it on the floor. All the while thinking of how much she hated touching it, feeling its sinister aura invading her own, almost made her sick.

Once the box was free from her hands she placed a piece of paper over the top, and began to rub the charcoal over it. Creating a rough looking replica of the mysterious words on the white sheet. She continued this action with a fresh sheet on every side until all the words had been replicated.

After this task was complete, she placed the horrid box back in its cage and locked it in the dark where it belonged. Once again placing the key under the false bottom to insure her secrets remained hidden. She placed the papers on the desk and took out a new book hoping to find some sort of staring point for her search. Hours began to roll by and still nothing tangible revealed itself. She began to rub her temples in frustration; she couldn't believe after the amount of time she'd spent researching that she had absolutely nothing to go on.

Reaching for her mug she once again found herself aggravated that she was fresh out of tea. In retaliation she groaned and began to stretch, her muscles protesting and hesitant to release themselves. She soon heard a knock at her door and with a light flip of her wrist the door pulled open revealing her masked lover standing in the entryway.

"You look tired."

"Yeah that's what happens when you run out of tea." Raven responded wittily. "Mind getting me a refill?"

"How about I do you one better," Robin smirked and entered the room. "How about I take you out to your favorite café?"

Raven paused a moment and thought of the request. She knew that she should probably stay in and keep up the research, but she also knew that she was far too burnt out to keep reading. She looked down at the pages in front of her, which were becoming a bit blurred as her eyes struggled to adjust.

"That's probably a good idea, I'll get changed."

Raven watched a smile pull across Robin's face as he left to get ready. Once the door was closed, Raven slipped out of her uniform and pulled out a torn pair of jeans. She also pulled out a pair of fishnet stockings and slipped them on in an attempt to stay warm. The fall in Jump City was mostly a continuation of summer, but it cooled down a bit more at night. Once she finished pulling on her stockings she followed with her jeans. Finally she put on a black sweater and tied a purple scarf around her neck. As she was loosely tying her black combat boots she heard Robin knock at the door. Once again she opened it with her black energy then grabbed her black vintages style coat to meet him in the hall.

"You look great." Robin said after checking to make sure none of the others were around to hear his compliment.

Raven smiled and thanked him as she shut the door behind her. The two then walked down the hallway side by side till they reached the main room. Raven hated moments like this. One because she knew Robin wanted their relationship known yet he was forced to hide it and she also didn't like lying to her friends, but couldn't help but avoid the conflict.

"Hey guys, where you off to?" Questioned a lazy Beast Boy, who didn't look away from the TV.

"Just out for coffee." Robin said brushing off the question and continued to move toward the front door.

"Cool."

Once the two reached the door Robin reached out for the handle, but before he could place his hands on the nob the door flew open to reveal a pink haired girl standing in the doorway.

"Hey love Birds what's going on?"

"Jinx, what brings you to this neck of woods?" Raven asked in surprise to find the young sorceress at her door. Ever since Jinx left the Hive she'd become quite the ally, not only to the Titans, but also to Raven. "I thought you were out of town with Kid Flash?"

"I was," the pink haired girl said with a sly tone, "but I got tired of that one cow town."

"So what are you doing here?" Robin asked.

"We invited her." A voice said as Terra had emerged from her room where she had been hiding for most of the day.

Raven looked at Jinx with question. It was strange for Jinx and Terra to spend time together. Not that she and Raven were even the best of friends, but they shared a certain _understanding_ and Terra was part of that _understanding._

"You two leaving so soon?" Jinx questioned in a playful manner.

"We are going to get coffee." Raven responded in annoyance.

"Oh, so is that what you call it."

Raven shot Jinx another look, but this one said far more than the previous one.

"You really need to lighten up," Jinx said in dull tone. "Have fun with your _coffee._"

Raven shook her head and remained silent as she and Robin walked out the room leaving the three titans behind.

Once Raven and Robin were no longer in ear shot Jinx turned to the group and said in a mischievous voice, "So are you guys ready to start?"

When Raven and Robin reached the garage they found a consumed Cyborg intently working on his car. Raven then took the opportunity to ask him if he wouldn't mind reviewing the surveillance tapes outside the tower to see if any footage could be found to reveal who left the box. Cyborg smiled and said he would do it first thing in the morning. Raven returned the smile as she got on Robin's civilian motorcycle, the one he only rode without his mask.

Back inside the tower, Jinx was busy having Starfire and Terra light candles that smelled of herbs and oils while she set down a heavy wooden board that was much older than her. It was what most people knew of as a Ouija board. Its old letters had been carved into it along with the images of the sun and the moon which represented light versus darkness. Once all the candles were in place and the board was prepared, Jinx had Beast Boy turn the lights out. While everyone sat down in a circle she told the three teens to be as quiet as possible.

This was something these few Titans had been dying to do for a long while. But with Raven hell bent against the use of a Ouija board, the opportunity hardly ever presented itself. Not to mention Robin and Cyborg would also never approve and frowned upon the idea, especially because Raven felt it was dangerous.

A few moments went by and Beast Boy was finally able to stop himself from giggling as he could hardly even take the situation seriously. Jinx then began to ask a few basic questions.

"Ouija, Ouija, Ouija, is there anyone out there who would like to speak to us?" The four looked down at the dial, but it remained still. "Don't be shy we are willing to listen."

A few moments later their fingers began to guild along the letters and numbers until the word _hello_ was spelled.

"This is such bullshit," Terra snapped.

"Shut up," Jinx demanded and began to ask another question. "I apologize for my friend, are you still there?"

The dial then landed on_ yes_ as Beast Boy tried to hold back his laughter.

"Do you have a name?" The dial began to spell out a word that Jinx called out the letters aloud. "M, A, Y, B, E. Maybe. What does that mean?" She questioned. Once again the dial continued to move and spelled, "I'm not telling you."

"Creepy." Beast Boy said as the others nodded in agreement.

Once again Jinx told them to be quiet and to be "respectful" to the spirit and asked another question. "Are you a good spirit?" The dial once again moved, but this time it spelled out a very long word that Jinx was able to untangle as, "Who said there is only one of us."

"Beast Boy is right; this is of the _creepy_." Starfire squealed causing the others to jump in surprise.

Jinx began to feel a little uneasy, but composed herself and continued asked another question. "How many of you are there?" The dial moved and responded with _3_. "Are you from the sun or the moon?" The dial once again began to spell out a word that Jinx read aloud. "N, E, I, T, H, E, R, Neither. Then where are you from?" Jinx again read the letters aloud as Beast Boy recorded them on a piece of paper. "The pit? You came from a pit?"

"No," the dial pointed, "The Pit"

"Are you… evil?"

The dial didn't move as the four remained quiet and still waiting for a response. Just then a glass broke causing the teens jump in fear.

"What the hell was that?" Beast Boy cried out.

"Friend Jinx make it stop please." Starfire pleaded.

"Ok, alright I'm going to close out the board." But when Jinx tried to pull the dial down to _goodbye,_ it kept moving to _no_.

"Jinx quit it, just close out the damn board already." Beast boy demanded, but noticed the look of worry on the young sorceresses face as she said, "I can't, the sprite won't let me."

The other two girls looked worried and Beast Boy seemed just as disturbed, but when the candles all blow out and the room became cold. All three could feel something that was not of this earth began to creep around them.

Jinx was still very fearful, but swallowed her apprehension and continued, hoping to find a way to put the spirit to rest. She asked one more question and hoped she would get answer. "Who are you?" The dial moved one last time and Jinx spelled out the following letters, "T, H, E, M."

"_Them_." Terra whispered to everyone's surprise.

"Who is Them_?_" Starfire asked when all of the sudden a cabinet door slammed closed from the kitchen and a vulgar scratching sound could be heard from the wall. The noise was slow and harsh, resembling sharp nails clawing at wood as the vigorous grinding could be heard above and around them. Jinx told everyone not to move for a moment, but a loud crash of glass breaking caused everyone to cry out in fear as a picture frame containing a group shot, hit the wall. Shattering into pieces and fragments as it fell to the floor in shambles.

"Somebody turn on the light please!" Starfire screamed as the green boy shot up and run for the switch.

It was then Jinx looked down to find a dark liquid pooling on the board. She looked up at Terra who was sitting before the black substance and when the lights flicked on was horrified to find blood pouring from the blonde's nose. Not only had it covered the board, but it had run down her neck and stained the collar of her shirt

"I don't feel well." Terra said in an aloof state, her voice foggy and her eyes distant.

Starfire and Beast Boy looked extremely disturbed as it appeared Terra had been bleeding for quite some time. Just then the door flew open causing everyone to once again jump as Jinx pushed the Ouija board under the couch. Cyborg revealed himself with a look of concern as he said, "Is everything ok up here, I heard screaming?"

He looked over and noticed Terra covered in blood as she began to vomit causing even more worry and panic. Everyone pulled back in a moment of revulsion, but quickly pulled themselves together to aid their friend. Beast Boy ran to her side and pulled her hair back as she purged, while Cyborg retrieved a pot from the kitchen, calling out to Jinx to go for a washcloth. Jinx shot up and quickly walked to the bathroom, she herself trying to hold down her own bile at the sight she'd just seen. Once she was in the bathroom she flipped on the light and closed the door. Pressing her back against it she wearily noticed her hands had been smeared with blood. In a slight state of a panic, Jinx rushed to the sink and turned on the faucet, scrubbing the blood off in a vigorous fashion. When she was done she splashed cool water on her face in an attempt to pull herself from the shock she felt. After a few deep breaths she grabbed a towel and began to pat her face dry.

When she looked up in the mirror she was horrified to see the very image of death looking back at her from the mirror's reflective surface. Her features were plagued with a deathly white and blue causing an icy appearance on her flesh. But her eyes were what frightened her most. Appearing cold and dead with a gray cast to them that reeked of decay, making her eyes look more corpse like than anything. In a mix of disgust and revolution, Jinx pulled back and hit the wall behind her in a panic, then shot out of the bathroom and down the hall with fear on her tail.

When she reached the main room she found the others gathered around Terra. Cyborg turned to the visibly unsettled girl who was now trying to hide her anxiety. Jinx hardly stopped when his eyes fell upon her and kept moving toward the front door.

"Jinx did you get that wash cloth?" The mechanical man asked.

"I have to go, I'm sorry," she responded with haste and quickly moved toward her exit.

Cyborg seemed disturbed and off put by the girl's odd behavior and looked to the others for answers. "What was that about?"

Starfire and Beast Boy shot each other a quick look that Cyborg hardly noticed and both shook their heads at his question.

Once Jinx was safely outside the tower she pulled out her communicator. She had no idea what she'd seen in the mirror or what even happened. She just knew something wasn't right and needed to call the one person she thought would understand.

"Raven, it's Jinx. Please call me as soon as you get this. I can't explain right now. Just call me, ok." Jinx hung up the communicator and prayed to whatever god would listen that Raven would call as she began to make her way home beneath a sky of uncertainty. With only the looming feeling of fear to keep her company the entire way there.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Hey guys since this is a horror story I thought what better time to then Halloween. So enjoy. I hope it's creepy enough for you guys, let me know if you are digging the direction. Thanks to all of those who reviewed and followed! Happy Halloween!**_

_**With Love- Ophelia**_

**Chapter 3**

**Them**

"_She said I wanna go home."_

_The Birthday Massacre_

The Apartment was dark and dimly lit just how she liked it. However the darkness that usually brought her much comfort only made her grow more fearful. She anxiously paced the length of the living room waiting for her communicator to sound off, but it remained as silent as the dead. Jinx continued to feel uneasy in the dark apartment looking around at the dark art that covered the walls and bled into the decor.

She thought back to what she saw back at the tower, but didn't know what to make of it. Her specialty was cures, not demonology, and even at that she never called on demons for assistance, only spirits. She knew that even Raven's knowledge may not be quintessential, but she was without a doubt more qualified than her.

Still the communicator remained quiet causing Jinx to become more anxious. She then heard a loud crash coming from her right and turned to face it. She looked over to her sliding glass door and found a small amount of blood smeared on the glass pane. In fear, she stepped back and examined the door. She noticed a large black bird of reasonable size lying on her sun porch. Its motionless body lying still and lifeless tugged on the girl's heart strings. Jinx slowly began to approach the door with caution in her steps, knowing the bird could be an omen or something of that sort. When she reached the door she slowly opened it as the bird appeared to lay dead at her feet. Slowly kneeling down, she looked at the lifeless bird. Its black feathers were glossy in the moonlight giving the deceased creature an elegant yet macabre appearance. For a moment she felt the need to touch it and reached out her hand. As her fingertips were about to make contact with sleek feathers, the image of blood once again appeared on her hands. In horror she quickly stumbled back into the apartment, forgetting to close the slider door.

Once in the apartment the panicked girl rushed to kitchen in haste to wash blood from her hands. Holding her hands under the running water the girl scrubbed, but they wouldn't come clean. Her panic became even more overpowering as a rush of guilt worked its way into her mind. This feeling only made her scrub harder as she became hell bent on cleaning the blood from her hands. Jinx could feel her fear beginning to burn in her cat-like eyes as tears were now forming in in the pools of pink. The burning was soon followed by faint sobs and cries as her hands began to sting from how raw they became. At this point, Jinx realized that the blood on her hands was her own as she looked down at her damaged flesh.

She slid down to the cold tile floor and began to weep, still looking down at her bloody hands as it pooled in her palms. She looked over and noticed her slider door was now closed. Her breath tightened and her eyes became wide as she recalled not taking the time to close it in her panic. In fear she clutched her knees frozen in horror at what was now possibly in her home. The silence was deathly and the air became cold. She felt an eerie feeling fall upon her as she felt a set of eyes moving on her skin. Her heart stopped as a loud banging could be heard causing hot tears to come running down her face. The sound could then be heard again as Jinx realized it was a knock at the door.

"Jinx, it's me Raven, let me in."

Jinx felt a sigh of relief flood over her as her muscles released themselves. "Oh thank god," the girl said letting go of her anxiety and wiped away her tears. She then slowly pulled herself up, her hands still slick with blood. Taking hold of a towel the girl moved to the door and quickly swung it open as she continued, "you scared the hell out of…" Jinx stopped short as looked down in shock to find three small children staring up at her with soulless black eyes. An overwhelming wave of anxiety crashed over her as the little boy in the middle said, "Please let us in."

333

Raven absent mindedly looked at the people around her while she waited for Robin to return with their order. It wasn't the most stimulating thing for her to do, but it was hard not to. The constant vibration of emotion was all around her and she unwillingly found pleasure in it. She looked at a young couple to her left who were very much in the throes of love and couldn't take their eyes off one another. To her right was a young woman who expressed a troubling sorrow which she tried to block out, but her empathy seemed to be pulling at her.

"Alright, one pumpkin spiced tea with three sugars and honey for you, and one black coffee for me."

She looked up at the young man as he placed her tea down in front of her and smiled. Looking into his blue eyes she found peace. However, taking a sip of her tea she couldn't help, but feel the depressed girl's thoughts invading her own as she found it even harder to shut her out.

"So when did you decide to tell Jinx we were dating?"

"I didn't, she figured it out on her own."

"So how do you know she won't say anything?" Robin inquired in a curious tone.

"Because I threatened her with her life," Raven replied dryly. "We'll tell them eventually…"

"Just not today," Robin said finishing the dark girl's sentence with a look of disappointment cast in his eyes.

Raven looked down at the table; the young woman's sadness began to pull at her own. Raven started to become uncomfortable and squirmed in her chair trying to shake the girl off, but with hardly any luck. The silence between her and Robin was becoming awkward and, coincidently, was causing Raven to take on the girl's sadness even more.

"Raven where are you going?" Robin asked as she rose from her chair and looked down at him.

"I just need a minute."

She then moved over to the lone girl in the corner and sat down in the empty seat across from her. The girl looked up from the book she was pretending to read and saw the violet haired girl in front of her. Before she could ask the obvious question Raven held out her hand and said the following:

"Hi, I'm Raven."

"Emilie," the girl replied confused taking Raven's hand in hers.

"_Emilie_, that's pretty. So Emilie, I know this is going to sound strange, but your conflict will work itself out. I know you think you aren't capable of making the right decision, but you are. You just need to believe in _yourself_ and what _you_ think is right. Then, I promise you all the pieces will fall into place"

With that Raven let go of the girls hand and stood up from her chair. The girl looked stunned and slightly shaken. Robin, who was looking on from his seat was used to this sight. Raven being an empath meant she couldn't go into public without helping those in need. Including those who didn't know they were asking for it. It was something he loved about her. No matter how cynical she was or how cold she could come off, she always wore her compassion on her sleeve.

When Raven made her way back to the table she picked up her coat and tea as she looked down at Robin and said, "Let's go."

Robin followed her request and picked up his coffee and followed her out of the café. Once outside he tried to ask her about the girl. She replied that it was simply not _her secret_ to tell, just her job to give her the emotional stability to make what was the best decision for _her. _Before the two began their walk home Robin realized he'd forgotten his wallet and ran back into the café to get it.

Raven found herself alone outside the café. The street was practically empty and hardy anyone could be seen except for a figure in the distance. A white silhouette in a vintage Victorian style outfit walked gracefully in her direction. She wore a fitted pencil skirt that flared about the knees and her fitted white coat was perfectly hugged to her curves. As she got closer, Raven noticed her stark white outfit bore black detailing in the form of buttons and ribbons. Her brown hair was pinned up in a flawless updo and her red lips became vibrant against her creamy white complexion.

Once she was within a few feet of Raven the woman looked over at her and smiled as she said, "My what a lovely face you have, almost lovely enough to paint." The words were plastic and her mannerisms had a rehearsed nature to them, as though striving for a certain kind of _perfection._

However, Raven looked at the woman and cracked a dry smile as she replied to the odd compliment. "Thanks," she then noticed that the woman carried with her a black lace umbrella which she found odd. "What's with the umbrella?"

The woman laughed as though her response was faulty and said, "Well you never know when it's going to rain."

"No offense, but even if it does rain, I don't think that umbrella is going to do much."

"Oh well I was being metaphorical. I thought a clever girl like yourself would have picked up on that."

Raven rolled her eyes at the woman and looked in the window to see if she could spy Robin making his way out when she heard the woman speak again.

"You know sometimes two birds of a feather don't have the same endeavor." She said spinning her umbrella, "It's actually quite funny how someone as alive as him can love someone as cold as death."

"What the hell is your problem?" Raven spat looking at the woman who seemed oddly plastic.

"Nothing my dear, death quite becomes you, you know. It's what makes your beauty so haunting. But still your face won't due; I need one that's more _alive_." Her words were strange and ethereal, leaving Raven bewildered in their wonder. The woman then held out her hand to reveal Robin's wallet. Confusion soon took over the girl's features as she looked up at the woman's empty smile.

"Rae, what are you doing?" A familiar voice said causing Raven to turn around to find Robin looking at her with curiosity.

"Um nothing I was just…" Raven then turned back to where the lady had stood just moments ago to find nothing but the empty street. In shock Raven felt a cold chill run up her spine, but quickly pushed it away and regained her composure. "I found your wallet; I must have grabbed it by mistake."

"Oh good, I was nervous it might have been stolen."

"You don't even know." Raven chucked nervously and confusion trying her best to keep her axeity from taking over.

Shortly after the incident Robin suggested that the two go for a walk through the park before heading home. Raven thought about telling Robin of the strange woman, but for some reason couldn't. There was something odd about the encounter that made her question its reality and began bring it to reason.

Still she found the boy's arms around her comforting as they cut through the park. The stars glistened in the night sky as the slight scent of autumn filled the air around them. Not a sound could be heard except the light call of the wind as it sang through the night. Raven found herself lost in the moment under the starry arches with the man that she loved.

"I love Raven," Robin whispered lightly against her ear. "You know that right?"

Raven took a deep breath before responding, it wasn't his love for her that she questioned, but her love for him. Not that she didn't love Robin she did, but she feared her love for him to be toxic at times. Which was why she became so offended by the lady's words, she feared them to be true. She couldn't help but wonder what he saw in her. She was a short tempered, lone wolf with an attitude, yet he found her endearing.

"I love you too Richard." She said calling him by his given name.

His smile became radiant as he pulled the young woman in a kiss and held her there for a long moment. When their lips parted they walked hand in hand until they reached the spot where Robin parked his motorcycle. They soon found themselves back at the tower and as they walked through the front door they were greeted by a foul scent. The two looked around to find Cyborg cleaning up the remints of broken glass that lay scattered across the carpet. It was then Raven's eyes caught a dark stain that she eminently knew was blood.

"What happened here?"

"Oh, I didn't hear you two come in." The robotic man said in a tired voice. "I'm not really sure Beast Boy said something about a game that got out of hand."

"Is that…"

"Blood, yeah Terra got pretty sick tonight and ended up with a bloody nose. Freaked everyone out including Jinx, and I thought that girl had a strong stomach." Cyborg chuckled.

"Is Terra alright?" Robin asked with a concerned look on his face.

"She'll be fine, I ran some test and everything looked normal, but I'm gonna run more tomorrow if she's still not feeling well."

"It doesn't smell like she is gonna be fine." The violet haired girl said questionably. Both boys looked up at her with questionable looks. She then realized that her morbid sense of humor may have been a little misplaced, but she couldn't help it, being a bit of a wise ass was kind of her thing. However, something still didn't sit right with her. The stain was quite large for a simple bloody nose and judging by the unmistakable scent of vomit whatever was wrong with her didn't seem normal. "Are you sure Terra is alright?"

"As far as the test show everything is normal, I'm waiting on the results of some blood work I did. They should be ready by the morning." Cyborg replied picking up the last of the glass.

"You look really tired Cye, why don't you go to bed. Raven and I can finish cleaning this mess."

Raven looked over at Robin with a look of disapproval, but quickly locked it away when she saw how relieved the mechanical man looked after all he'd been through. Cyborg always got stuck with the cleanup. Not just with physical messes, but metaphorical ones. Whether it was picking up the pieces of a shattered ego or the just another broken glass, he always remained the pillar that kept the team standing.

Raven nodded her head to indicate that she'd be more than willing to aid in the cleanup which Cyborg greatly accepted. The mechanical man soon retired for the night after telling the two what was left to clean. It was soon after that Raven found herself vigorously attempting to scrub stained blood out of the already red carpet. This she was thankful for. It had been any other color she probably wouldn't have succeeded in getting most discoloration out. Robin on the other hand was busy trying to clean the left over vomit that Raven refused to touch.

"I think we are going to need a new carpet." The Boy Wonder said in defeat.

"I think you're right." The two both looked up at each other and smiled as Raven said, "We should probably call it a night."

Robin nodded in agreement and moved to the kitchen to put all the cleaning supplies away. Raven who was not far behind stopped dead in her tracks as she felt as though a pair of eyes were watching her from somewhere she couldn't see. She looked around slowly trying to locate the strange presents, but became distracted when she saw that the group photo was missing from its usual place. A question began to form in her mind, but before it could completely take fruition she heard the sound of Robin's voice break through her walls.

"Rae you ok?"

She turned quickly, shaking off the strange feeling with a dismissive nature and assured Robin she was fine, just deep in a thought. After the two finished their cleanup they headed down the hall to Raven's room. Once inside they began to get ready for bed. After Raven finished washing off what little makeup she had on, she noticed the red light on her communicator blinking with demand. She'd once again forgotten it, leaving it on her dresser where it was now in plain view. She took the device in her hand and sat down on her bed to find there was only one missed call from _Jinx._

"_Raven, it's Jinx. Please call me as soon as you get this. I can't explain right now. Just call me, ok."_

The message sounded frantic as though her friend was in a bit of a panic when she left it. Robin over heard the message from the bathroom and came out curious if it was indeed Jinx's voice he'd heard. Raven confirmed his suspicion and began to return her call. A few long moments went by with no response making both Raven and Robin become even more unsettled. Their nervous expressions however faded as the familiar voice of the pink haired girl finally came on the line.

"Hello?"

"Oh thank god, Jinx you had us worried, are you alright?"

"Yes why wouldn't I be?" The young sorceress questioned with little emotion.

"I got your message you sounded pretty freaked out what happened?"

"Oh that I was just afraid to walk home alone, but I'm fine now really."

Raven found the girls response strange, one because Jinx wasn't afraid of anything and two she walked home alone all the time. She was more than capable of taking care of herself and it was a miracle if she'd even let her boyfriend walk her to her apartment building.

"Jinx are you sure you're alright?" Raven asked questioning the sincerity of Jinx's reasoning.

"Yes Raven I'm fine I'm just not feeling well. I'll call you tomorrow alright." The pink haired girl then hung up the phone before Raven could even respond, leaving her to the lonely sound of the dial tone howling in her ear.

"That was strange," Robin said taking a seat next to Raven on the bed.

"This whole day has been strange." She replied as Robin wrapped his arms around her and noticed the time.

"Well it's officially over as of now."

Raven smiled weakly while Robin suggested that the two go to bed for the night and crawled under the soft covers. One the two became comfortable Robin leaned in and gave her a long kiss goodnight and killed the light. The darkness quickly engulfed everything in the room and the two soon fell fast asleep.

333

_It was dark, too dark as she awoke to the weight of her body being pressed on the cold, hard floor beneath her. She couldn't see anything and fell into a slight panic when she heard footsteps moving around her. Her vision too incased with black to see who they belonged to. Her ears followed steps until they were replaced with the sound of weight being placed on old floor board that seemed to be moving above her head. Too nervous to move, she pulled herself up right and placed her hands on the cold sensation of concrete. She let her hands move slowly along the cool surface trying to get a better sense of where she was. Taking in the scent of dust and debris as it lifted from the floor she swallowed when she hands fell upon something solid. Before she could explore it further the footsteps finally stopped. A long moment of silence filled the room, but was followed by the slow sound of rusty door hinges wining in a chilling agony. The sound was not only abrasive to her ears, but also her skin, as every hair on her body seemed to stand on end._

_Raven looked up to where the sound seemed to be coming from and noticed the vague image of a dark shadow moving through a now open doorway. The light that poured into the darkness was only, but a shred of moonlight that managed to bleed in from an upstairs window. The thought of ascending the staircase crossed Raven's mind, but the fear of what possibly awaited her proved to strong._

_She let her eyes wander, trying to make out the visible shadows around her. Everything was featureless under the pale light. Nothing seemed to move and the only sound she heard was her heart beating loudly in a rhythmic pace. She couldn't help, but feel as though someone was watching her and began to wander how she even got to the strange place. _

_Suddenly she heard a light fluty voice sing as it echoed from a far direction. It was the voice of a lone little girl softly singing words she couldn't quite make out. Looking around, she noticed a stretch of moonlight peering in from what appeared to be another room and slowly pulled herself to her feet. Moving slowly, she cautiously moved around dust covered furniture and odd shapes she didn't want to make out. As she approached the doorway where the moonlight was coming from she began to hear the hollow words become more clear with every step._

"_Ladybird, ladybird fly away home,_

_Your house is on fire and your children are gone,_

_All except one,_

_Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home,_

_Your house is on fire, your children shall burn!"_

_As Raven entered the room she found it bathed in silvery light. In the middle sat a little girl in a white dress that was stained in a substance that appeared dark purple under the blue cast. She sat with her back to Raven and continued to sing her macabre lullaby. Raven continued to move toward the small girl who seemed to be too engrossed with something in her hands to notice the young woman behind her. Finally Raven was close enough to the girl to peer over and see what she was playing with. Slowly leaning over she looked down at the girls hands to find a morbid looking necklace. It was made of a strange looking meta and shaped like some sort of serpent like creature. Its claws and wings spread out triumphantly to the each side. At the bottom of the cynical creature was what appeared to be an eye? It was round with a strange blue surface that truly did resemble a human iris. _

_Before Raven could truly make sense of the strange object, she suddenly found herself looking into the shallow depths of the black eyes of little girl._

"_All except one and you'd better run." The little girl said with absolutely no emotion in her voice._

_Raven took a step back from the little girl in shock. The little girl didn't move. She just sat in her place and watched the frightened girl with lifeless stare. Raven could feel the black eyes upon her leaving a feeling of violation and discomfort. Looking at the smears and across the girl's face, Raven realized the stains on her dress were in fact blood and, froze in her place._

_The little girl suddenly got up with the necklace still in hand. She then cocked her head to one side and took a step toward Raven who took one back in response._

"_What are you so afraid of?" She said stepping forward again. "It will all be over soon."_

_Raven continued backing away from her trying to keep a steady distance between them. As she entered the next room she stumbled over the object her hands had touched before. She fell to the floor and landed in a pool of a thick liquid. The substance was dark and she didn't need to see it to know it was blood as she quickly pulled herself to her shaky feet._

"_They are coming for Raven." The little girl said with a sinister chill to her voice._

"_Who?" Raven whispered in fear moving even further into the shadows._

"_Them." _

_As soon the words left the little girls mouth, three sets of hands crept out of the shadows and wrapped themselves around her arms, legs and neck. One and covered her mouth, muffling her cry for help as They viciously pulled her into the shadows._

She suddenly woke up with a loud cry as she could still feel their icy grips and sharp nails digging into her flesh. She swiftly swung her covers off her bare legs to find nothing there. Robin who was fast asleep awoke abruptly to the sound of Raven's scream.

"Holy shit, Raven what's wrong?"

Raven took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair realizing it was all a very _vivid_ nightmare. Still she couldn't help, but feel violated at the images that burned themselves into her mind and the sensation of finger nails dragging across her skin.

"I had a nightmare."

In a daze the girl got out of bed, her eyes wide with fear and discomfort. Robin watched her with worry as she robotically moved toward the bathroom.

"Raven what are you doing?"

"Taking a shower."

"But it's three in the morning?"

"Don't remind me." She growled lightly entering the bathroom and locked the door. She took a deep breath then pulled off her black tank top and turned on the shower. Once the water was to her liking she stepped into the shower and let the water run over her body in an attempt to wash away the feelings of sin and violation.

As the water ran down her skin she suddenly felt a sharp sting radiate from her inner thigh. Wincing she looked down to find a long scratch along the interior surface of her thigh. It appeared to be fresh and quite deep, looking more like it had been carved into her delicate flesh. Gently she placed her fingertips on the unsightly abrasion for further examination wondering where it could've come from.

While Raven found herself trying to conquer this mystery, Robin was pouring his best efforts into trying to fall back asleep. Though as hard as he tried the excitement of his girlfriend's sudden outburst proved too strong a muse. Still he forced his eyes closed, hoping sleep would find him, but then he heard _something._ Opening one eye, he questioned the noise. It was the sound of a strange movement coming from the wall behind him. Slowly he pulled himself up, staring at the wall for answers. He soon got to his feet and approached the wall, the room still dark around him. Whatever it was lay hidden beyond the drywall and dark purple paint before him. With this discovery Robin placed his hear to the cool surface where he hears a wretched scratching from within its bounds. The sound was so harsh to his ears that his feature showed a look of revolution.

Just then he heard the door flew open as Raven emerged from the bathroom. "You really need to cut your nails." The girl said in a cynical tone then looked over at Robin who had his ear against the wall. "What are you doing?"

"I think we have mice."

"Yeah his names Beast Boy, I'll call the exterminator."

"No, for real. I hear scratching in the wall." He said placing his ear back to the wall.

Raven turned puzzled and uneasy flicking on the light. "Did you say scratching in the wall?"

"Yeah, but it's stopped. I'll talk to Cye when he wakes up."

Raven nodded and took a seat on the bed while Robin got dressed, mentioning he was going for an "early" morning workout. "And by the way my nails are trimmed." He added after leaning in and giving Raven a quick kiss and left the room.

After he left, she sighed and looked down at her thigh again. Deep down she knew she was only trying to make sense of something she didn't yet understand. In frustration she combed her fingers through her damp hair and slipped off her black robe to get dressed. Not wanting to attract any attention to her cut she pulled on a pair of black jeans and a loose sweater that fell off her right shoulder a bit. She knew by not wearing her uniform she would be subjected to numerous questions, but at least she had answers for those.

After getting dressed she took a seat at her desk and picked up where she left off. Looking through the old book, she began reading anything that referenced to a box or black eyed children. She didn't find much about either, just a few things about cursed boxes and few stories about child spirits, but nothing seemed to fit right. She knew that it was possible the box was cursed, but the object in question didn't quite fit the description. There was nothing about strange writing or the box being nailed shut. If anything the box strangely reminded her if an "nganga." A powerful objected capable of great evil used in the Palo religion. The object's purpose is to entrap a sprite so one may harness it's power for one's bidding such as revenge or fortune. Where a nganga is used for black magic it is a commonly feared object among those who believe in it.

However, an nganga is made of an iron or steel cauldron or pot and is normally wrapped in chains and pad locks. Inside you'd find an assortment of dried blood, black feather, metal spikes, knives and other strange things that meant to keep a powerful sprite at bay for eternity. Still there was one thing the two objects had in common, once closed they were never to be opened. This thought only drove Raven's fear that whatever was in the box was evil. Why else would someone go through the trouble to nail it shut and carve those strange words into it.

After a few hours of more dead end reading, Raven put off the search for a well needed cup of tea. She entered the main room she found almost everyone present except Terra. After putting her water on she turned to find Starfire looking exhausted and Beast Boy practically falling asleep in his tofu.

"Is everyone ok?"

"Yes, friend Raven, I just had a terrible slumber." Starfire replied.

"Yeah me too, I spent most of the night taking care of Terra. I didn't know a girl could puke so much."

"Well I just lost my appetite." Raven replied in a graveled voice as she poured her tea and took a seat next to Robin. "So Terra's still sick?"

"Yeah, she was up most of the night. She finally fell asleep around 3 o'clock. Thank god."

_3 o'clock? _Raven thought and furrowed her brow. Before she could ask the green boy anymore questions, she heard Cyborg's voice command everyone's attention.

"So did anyone hear an odd scratching noise last night?"

Raven noticed Starfire flinch at the question, but remained silent. Robin then lifted his head from his newspaper to acknowledge the robotic and said, "Yeah I heard that, we may have a mice problem."

"That's what I thought, I'll get right on it after breakfast."

Raven kept quiet, even though her suspicions were strong she didn't want alarm anyone until she had more answers. A few moments went by as Robin and Cyborg continued their conversation of the possible infestation when Cyborg noticed a missed call on the monitor and went to retrieve the message. Robin then turned his attention to Raven who was staring off into space which he found unusual for her.

"So Raven, you figure out anything about that box?" He asked causing a spark of interest in the two other worn out Titans.

"No, not really. So far none of my books have any information on it. I don't even know what langue it's written in."

"You looked pretty sure of what it was yesterday." Beast boy said with question in his voice. "So you must have some idea."

Raven felt a hint of frustration with Beast Boy's statement. She often wondered some as unfocused as Garfield Logan could notice such things. But before Raven could respond, cyborg entered the room again with his face as pale as death. His four teammates looked up at him with worry as he struggled to find the words he was intent to deliver.

"Cyborg what's wrong?" Robin asked placing down his paper and rising up from his chair.

The mechanical man looked at him with disbelief in his eyes as his lips began to move to deliver the words that none of the Titans would ever forget, "It's Jinx, she's… dead."

10


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So here you go Chapter 4. I hope that you guys enjoy it! I tried to make it as creepy as possible so let me know what you think. Thanks for the reviews and follows, I hope this lives up to your standards.**

**With Love- Ophelia **

**Chapter 4**

**9**

_There's a girl sleeping under the river,_

_where the snow and rain collide._

_There's a girl that we watch _

_and we'll soon be with her."_

_-The Birthday Massacre_

Standing bewildered in the moment, her eyes traveled looking at the weeping faces dressed in black around her. Only the sound of shed tears and last goodbyes lingered in the air like a ghost, haunting and unmoving. _This truly is the end,_ she thought, trying to keep her stoic facade strong. Her eyes fell on her fellow teammates. They were all shaken by the loss and had become distant since they received the news of their fallen friend.

Raven could recall that sickening moment when she first stepped into the apartment. The images of crime scene tape and policemen looking through her friend's things were disturbing and hard to swallow. For a moment the whole world went quiet and everything moved in slow motion. Raven wasn't sure if she could keep her emotions under control as she looked helplessly on at the scene in front of her. A slight panic had begun to set in and her breath tightened. Something wasn't right and she could feel it the air, and worse, behind her. Before she could turn to see if there was indeed anything behind her she felt a hand wrap around hers and squeeze lightly. "I'm here Raven, you're not alone," a sturdy voice said pulling her back to reality (or at least the one she belonged in.)

She looked over to see masked eyes peering in her direction beside her. She didn't need to see them to know that Robin was undoubtedly trying to comfort her. However, it still couldn't mend the tear that was now permanently imbedded in her life.

Finally after a few minutes, a tall man dressed in a dark gray trench coat approached them. "Hello, I'm Detective O'Brien."

"Robin." The two shook hands as Robin proceeded to introduce the rest of the team.

While this was taking place Raven looked at the detective from under her hood, keeping her face hidden. She noticed he was quite old for a detective and possibly even over retirement age. His face bore deep wrinkles in his leathery skin and his white hair was thin through the top.

"And who might this young lady be?" The old man questioned.

"Oh, this is Raven."

"I'm sorry we have to meet on such circumstances miss." He said holding his hand out to her. "You two were close weren't you?"

"I guess," Raven shrugged keeping her answer short. "What happened?"

"That's the thing, we're not really sure."

Detective O'Brien went on to explain that upon the coroner's report there were no clear signs as to cause of death. This the Titans couldn't believe. There had to be something to indicate what the possible cause of death could have been.

"There has to be something." Cyborg said.

"Well, the coroner has requested an autopsy so we should find something there."

"So then if you guys have no idea what killed her, then why is there so much… blood?" Beast Boy asked nervously.

"Because she had multiple abrasions on her hands."

"From what?" Raven demanded

"From the angles of and shape of the wounds we think they were self-inflicted. We found tissue under her fingernails…"

"So you might have a lead to a suspect?" Robin said cutting the detective off.

Detective O'Brien took a deep breath and looked at the group of young heroes in front of him, knowing they would hate his answer. "No, we are almost positive the tissue we found belongs to Ms. Diaz. We are just waiting for test results at this point."

"So you're saying Jinx clawed her own hands up?" Raven spat in a dry voice.

The detective immediately stopped talking and looked at the hooded girl who was shooting him daggers, but he could only reply with the truth. "Yes."

"I wanna see her body."

"Raven?" Robin questioned as the rest of the team looked in her direction confused and disturbed.

"I'm afraid I don't allow that…"

"You will." The dark girl didn't say anything more. She just looked the detective through smoldering eyes and waited for his reply.

"Fine, but can't touch anything."

Raven nodded. She knew he would comply, it was difficult not to. Ever sense the defeat of her father, Raven had begun to harbor new abilities and this was one of them. She found that if she concentrated enough, and put enough emotion behind it she could control the will of others. It was something she didn't have quite down to a science, but she could easily get people to agree to simple things, almost like a little mind trick.

Raven got up to follow the detective when a voice called out from behind them. "No Raven." She turned to find not her boyfriend, but her leader standing behind her.

"I'm going Robin."

"As your leader I can't allow you to go in there alone." Robin said firmly.

"Then you better come with me." Her voice was more assertive this time, making everyone pull back in a bit of fear. However, before Robin knew, it he was standing in the doorway looking in at the crime scene itself. Now it wasn't that neither him nor any of the Titans hadn't seen a dead body before, they'd just never seen anything like this.

Jinx lay lifeless in her bed with her pale pink eyes staring aimlessly to the right, her sheets stained in blood and above her head on the wall, a message for the living to read.

_"__Don't let Them in?" _Raven read aloud causing chills to run up both her and Robin's spines.

Raven looked down at the girls hands that where cover in dried blood, noticing the deep scratches that bore into her flesh. For a minute she found herself fighting to choke down her disgust and sorrow, regretting her decision to see such a sight. Robin, however, turned his head and refused to look in the dead girl's direction, leaning on the doorway for support.

"Yes we think she wrote that. Do you have any idea what it means?" Detective O'Brien said approaching the body.

"No. What did you say her time of death was?"

"10:08 pm."

Raven turned sharply to face the detective as Robin looked over confused. "That's impossible I spoke to her last night around twelve."

"Well you must be mistaken. We may not know much about her death, but we have time of death."

"No, I was there when she called her. It was a little after midnight." Robin added with a look of concern.

"Listen I don't have to be doing this with you two. I don't even know why I am. So you can either listen to the facts or get the hell out."

"Alright, what else do you have?" Raven said in agreement.

"But, Raven?"

Raven shot Robin a look to comply and he remained quiet.

"Really, all we have is that there was no forced entry, no sign of rape. There doesn't seem to be any drugs in her system, and no fatal injury or blunt force trauma."

"Could she have bled to death?" Raven asked approaching the bed.

"No, that's what we thought at first, but with the amount of blood, it's extremely unlikely. We did, however, find this." Detective O'Brien then pulled up Jinx's shirt sleeve and revealed an assortment of marks.

"Are those… burns?" Raven asked as the detective nodded.

"_18 will become 9?"_ He said releasing the girls arm.

"Did you just say_ 9_?" Raven asked, bewildered.

"Yes, '18 will become 9,' I don't really know what to make of it."

Raven shuddered causing Robin to notice her become even more uncomfortable and moved toward her.

"You know what it means don't you." The detective inquired. "What is it?"

"It's numerology. 1+8=_9_"

"And what does _9 _meanto you?"

Raven hesitated she knew what it meant, but feared revealing it for personal reasons. One, because she knew that to the wrong person it would sound crazy, and two, to the right person it was far too _intriguing._

"9 is a symbolic number and to some it's associated with demons in some circles of religion and demonology."

"Why's that?"

"Because it's a derivative of the number 3 which is both a divine and demonic number. The number 3 is considered a perfect number in some cultures and is known as the number of man. It's also used heavily in many religions as a number of symbolic value, especially in Christianity. Specifically the Holy Trinity and because of 777 consisting of 3 digits. However, in the world of demonology 3 O'clock in the morning is considered the Devil's hour to make a mockery of the number and everything it symbolizes. The number is also present in six hundred and sixty-six because it also consists of 3 digits."

"My parents believed if you heard three knocks in your home that a loved one was going to die." Robin added from the doorway then looked at Raven with a shrug.

"That's all well and good, but how does that tie into 9?" The detective ask still confused.

"When you add the three sets of six together you get 18"

"Which becomes_ 9_." Robin said from the doorway."

"Not to mention 3 sets of 3 equal 9." Raven added.

"So what are you saying, this is something demonic?" The detective asked in a harsh voice.

"No I'm telling you what you asked me to. I never said this was a theory." Raven spat.

"Well you still haven't explained what the number 9 means."

"It's represents the end." Raven said turning around and walking out the door past Robin.

Raven then left the apartment and made her way out of the building where she was finally able to breakdown. Letting the tears that burned behind her eyes free so they rushed down her face. She let herself lean on the brick wall for support. Hoping that in a few minutes she would have the strength to gather herself. She couldn't believe Jinx was gone and she couldn't understand why. Yet part of her knew that whatever it was, it was evil and it was possibly even coming for her.

Suddenly she felt a hand wrap around her shoulder causing her to jump. She spun around to find it was only Robin who looked very concerned. "Oh god, Robin you scarred the hell outa me!"

"I'm sorry Raven. Is everything alright?"

She took a deep breath and tried to settle herself, wiping away her tears and said, "Well our friend's gone and I don't know how to explain it."

Robin sighed and looked down; he knew no matter how big a front she put up she was taking the loss hard. Jinx and Raven my not have always seen eye to eye, but they did have a mutual respect for one another. In all honesty, Robin knew that when it came to some secrets, Raven trusted Jinx more than some of her own teammates.

"Robin… Richard," she whispered so none could hear, "I sorry this is just too much to take in right now."

Robin wrapped his arms around the shaken girl. He still had many questions for her, but knew they were best left unsaid for the moment. "I know, Raven, I understand. Let's go home."

"_Raven… Raven? Raven_!"

"What?" She turned her head to find her teammates all looking at her questionably.

"Let's go home." Robin said, apparently repeating himself. He held out his hand offering support to Raven, but she refused to take it (though she admittedly wanted to.)

The rest of the funeral party had already left, leaving her only among her fellow Titans. In the week since Jinx's death Robin had become more buried in his work while Cyborg seem to spend even more time in the garage, keeping himself as distracted as possible. Beast Boy spent most of the day and night taking care of Terra who was still suffering from an unknown ailment. She'd become quite weak and frail, but the Titans couldn't find anything medically wrong with her. She hardly ever left her room anymore and had gotten to the point that even Raven became concerned. When she did leave her room it was usually late at night after sleeping most of the day. Her skin was becoming sickly pale and this was only more noticeable by the dark circles forming under her eyes. Starfire on other hand become extremely depressed and very needing to the point she actually slept in Raven's room for two nights. She too was becoming less and less like herself, spending most of her time indoors and hardly touching her garden. At first Raven hardly noticed the odd behavior from her friends, mostly because a comrade died and like her they were all grieving. But when their melancholy came even more consuming than her own, she began to worry. Not just because of the odd behavior taking place around her, but odd occurrences had become quite common.

To start, the possible mice infestation Cyborg and Robin believed to be causing the unsettling scratching noise was proven incorrect. After checking every crack, corner and wall there was no sign of vermin that lived within the towers walls, at least in recent years. However, this didn't mean the scratching ceased. If anything, it became even more over powering and only happened at night. It even got to the point where Starfire said she could feel the scratching in her mattress. Still as hard as Cyborg looked he couldn't find any _logical answers._

However, just because they didn't have a mice infestation didn't mean they weren't infested. Within the week, there seemed to be an unusual amount of flies and beetles taking up residence in Titans' Tower. The strange part was, no one could figure out where they were coming from. It never seemed to matter how clean they kept the tower, or how many they killed, they just kept coming. Also they seemed to vanish just as quickly as they came.

Another odd thing Raven seemed to notice was that she continued to wake up with strange cuts on her body. She always found one or two carved along the surface of her hips, breast and abdomen. Not only did she have no knowledge of where they were coming from, but she also couldn't heal them. This frightened her because she knew it meant that something quite powerful was trying to dig its way into her, and these were it's physical manifestation. Whatever was doing it was trying to not only feed off of her, but claim her. This realization disturbed her to the point she hated getting undressed and having to look at them. They made her feel venerable and weak to the point she even pushed Robin away. He'd noticed the one on her thigh one night while she changed her cloths. He of course asked her about it and where she'd gotten it. Raven wasn't really sure what to tell him except that she thought it happened during a training session. Robin, however, didn't believe her and insisted she tell him the truth, to which she only replied, "I would tell you the truth if I knew it myself." Robin found the answer troubling. He knew there was something she wasn't telling him, but refrained from digging up answers until after Jinx was buried.

Still, the Titans as a unit were seemingly falling apart. They had all become quite irritable and even aggressive toward one another at times. The only one who seemed to be somewhat unaffected by this atmosphere was Beast Boy who'd become more passive in nature. He no longer fought with Cyborg over breakfast or even tried to get a rise out of Raven. He just spent his time caring for a slowly deteriorating Terra. Who'd developed few peculiar new character traits of her own. One of which was sleepwalking.

It first started the night After Jinx died. Raven was having a hard time falling asleep that night and decided to watch TV in the main room to keep her mind occupied for once. Robin was taking a break from his work and decided he didn't want to leave Raven alone since she'd finally come out of her room that day. The two sat quietly on the couch watching some ridiculous show she couldn't recall the name of, when they heard a crash.

The two both looked at each other a little nervous, but pulled their courage together and went to investigate. As soon as they began to approach the hallway the heard a loud thud echoing down the long hallway. It was soon followed by another and preceded every three seconds. The two birds followed the sound until they found a dark silhouette standing at Raven's door.

"Is that Terra?" Raven asked slowly approaching the figure with Robin by her side.

"Yeah, what is she doing?"

"She's hitting her head against my door?"

"Is she even awake?" Robin questioned as they watched the girl repeatedly hit her head against the door. "Terra can you hear me?" Robin asked getting no response.

"She must be sleepwalking. Be careful not to wake her." Raven added.

Once Robin was at her side, he slowly wrapped his hands around her shoulders and pulled her back. Guiding her thin frame away from the door so that she could no long cause herself injury.

"Hey Raven, help me get her back to bed."

Raven nodded and helped Robin bring Terra back to her room. When they got there they found Beast Boy fast asleep in an arm chair across from Terra's bed. It was obvious he was exhausted looking after her all night and day and would've taken an earthquake to wake him. The two slowly and carefully put the young blond back in her bed. As Raven was doing so she noticed a large amount of bruising on her lower back after her tank top had risen up. Robin apparently didn't see it as he was debating on whether to wake Beast Boy or leave him in the chair for the night.

"If you wake him he'll just worry about Terra. Let him sleep." Raven said placing her hand on the girl's back trying to heal the unsightly bruises. However, as hard as she tried she made little progress. If anything she felt like Terra was resisting her aid, or even worse, something was fighting her off. She finally gave up and accepted her defeat after telling Robin she was going to bed. Once she heard him make his way to his room she approached a sleeping Beast Boy. She soon encased him in her black energy and teleported him back to his room. She knew something wasn't right and she would have never forgiven herself if anything happened to him or any of her teammates for that matter. She soon found herself once again reading while Starfire slept soundly in her bed.

Since then, Terra had continued her sleep walking episodes and they seemed to be getting progressively creepier each time. It was becoming quite common for Raven to wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of Terra slamming her head against her door. But what was really beginning to alarm her was that Terra began doing this at 3 O'clock. On top of this strange occurrence, Raven also found that each time she found Terra, something even odder would occur. Including finding the young blonde in her room the last two nights.

The first night she found her just standing in her open doorway with her head down and her hair hanging lifeless around her face. Her black silhouette created a haunting image as she stood dressed in a white nightgown against the light of the hallway. Raven even found herself nervous to approach the young girl, but did so with caution Guiding her her back to her room where she once again helped her to bed.

The second night was a bit more unsettling considering that Raven decided to lock her door in hopes of avoiding another intrusion. However, she once again awoke at 3 O'clock to find to find Terra had indeed made her way into her room. But this time was by far the most frightening in her option. She'd awoken from another one of her recurring nightmares of black eyed children. The same one she had after her last conversation with Jinx. But this time before she was dragged away by the crippling hands that left her with a grotesque feeling, something unexpected happened. The bone chilling child no longer stood before her. Instead a young woman with deathfuly white skin and look of decay lingering in her eyes now looked back at her. At first she didn't recognize the figure in front of her as her features were too consumed in death to be clear in the dark cellar. It wasn't until the girl began to speak that she realized who she was looking at.

"Raven she let _Them_ in." The voice spoke in a dull whisper.

"Jinx! Is that you?" Raven called to the shadowy figure.

"You have to go back Raven."

"Go back where?"

"To where the water is black and the time never moves passed 3 O'clock. Where 18 became 9."

"Jinx I don't know where that is. You have to tell me." Raven said in a panic.

"Fate will bring you and Raven one last thing."

"What?"

"_They_ are above you."

Raven opened her eyes to find a blurry vision of a girl standing over looking down and immediately screamed. For a moment she didn't dare move, not sure if what she was seeing was a dream or just her imagination. Until she felt a few drops of a warm, dark liquid land on her face. The thick liquid ran down her cheekbone. Before she could react any further she heard a slamming at her door.

"Raven! Are you alright? Raven open the door, it's locked! Raven!" She heard Robin cry in a panic.

She found herself still too frightened to move, but finally gathered herself up enough to wave her hand and free the lock. She soon found both Robin and Cyborg charging into her room.

"Raven, what's the… Why is Terra in your room and why are you covered in blood?"

Before Raven could answer, Terra turned to face the two boys with blood running heavily from her nose and down her face. She was clearly in a state of unconsciousness, but the two heroes still found the sight disturbing enough to pull back in disgust. Raven had now found the strength to exhale and pulled herself to her knees, fear still present on her face.

"Oh, God Terra." Cyborg sighed.

"Raven, why is Terra in here with you?"

"I don't know, Robin, I don't even know how she got in here, I locked the door." Raven hissed in frustration.

It was at this moment the green changeling entered the room and caught sight of all the commotion. "Terra," he gasped and ran to her side. "What happened?"

"Terra broke into Raven's room again."

"Oh. Raven you um… have something on your face." Beast Boy said in a tired voice.

Raven took her fingers and wiped some of the sticky substance off her face. She looked down at her finger tips to see them covered in a dark crimson. She immediately became revolted and quickly pushed herself off her bed and without a words moved passed the boys and bleeding girl. She stopped once she reached the bathroom doorway and turned to face the four Titans and said, "Get the hell out of my room." Then with a quick swing locked herself in with a slam.

"Raven, what are you doing?"

"Get out Robin." She hissed as the sound of rushing water began to ricochet off the tile.

Everyone else followed her order and left, all except Robin who was still standing at her bathroom door.

"Raven, I know something is wrong around here. I know it because I can see it and more importantly I feel it, and I know you do to. I've been waiting till after we burry Jinx to ask you all the hard questions and that's what I still intend to do. But tomorrow expect by days end to start giving me answers."

"Keep Terra out of my room or I promise you Jinx won't be the only Titan we bury." Raven said holding back her tears.

Robin couldn't bring himself to respond to her brashness. He knew that whatever was going on was affecting her negatively. Among Raven's many demons she often found truth to be one of her biggest opponents. Mostly because she felt truth was never really on her side. Still it hurt to know whatever it was, she didn't feel that she could confide in him. Robin then took his wounded pride and slowly withdrew from the door and walked away.

Now the Titans took their long walk home with silence heavy in the air around them. Leaving little room for comfort and unity as they walked, fractured and brittle. The tension between them was almost suffocating to the point the weight of it was hard to bare.

When they finally got back to the tower, Raven immediately ran to her room to avoid having to make small talk with her fellow teammates. However, as soon as she went to close the door she felt someone intercept it. She turned to find Robin standing in her doorway, a look of inquiry on his face.

"I don't want to talk about this right now." She sighed in frustration.

"Why not?"

"Because it's not the end of the day yet." She followed her dry insult with a strong slam, securing the door shut. She knew the gesture was insulting and cruel, but he did say she had till days end and for whatever reason she felt the need to wait.

Once the door was locked, Raven let her last bit of strength break as she slid down her door with an empty darkness. Tears once again fell to no audience and she let herself weaken with remorse. She knew she needed to tell Robin all she feared, but she had no real answers to give him.

Later that day, she found herself looking to yet another book for answers, but found little reward. In the past week she'd researched everything from curses to infestations. She'd become convinced that the tower was indeed harboring some sort of entity, but she knew she needed more than that. She needed to know what it was, what it was doing and where it came from. She had a strong suspicion that it must've been attached to box somehow, but it was only a suspicion.

She'd also looked up everything and anything that even referenced blacked eyed children, but with little to no luck. All she really found of them came from a few _questionable_ websites. They mostly told of small children with black eyes and pale skin turning up on people's doorsteps asking permission to enter their homes. Almost all of the stories mentioned the children being very un-childlike and extremely persistent on entering. She noticed in all accounts that the children appeared to need permission to gain entry and became quite frustrated when denied. This reminded her of old vampire fables where they needed an invitation before they could cross the threshold of their victim's home. She also recalled another entity that needed permission to infest the lives of its victims, demons.

Now most people would say that they'd never think of inviting something so heinous in their lives, but the thing about demons is they don't need a formal invitation. It doesn't take much, in fact you may not even know you're doing it till it's done. Demons often use deceit to gain access, including pretending to be a deceased loved one or a harmless spirit, playing off other's emotions. This was something Raven knew too well. She herself found it tempting at times to toy with other's empathy (though she wasn't sure which half craved it more.) However she locked those distasteful urges away, much like the box she hid in her closet.

Raven could feel her demonic nature begin to shift as she thought of her darker half. It was something she fought hard to repress and keep hidden, but every now and then it would find its way into the light. Sometimes she'd even entertain the idea that maybe it was her infesting her friend's lives. They had technically invited her into their lives. Raven, however, quickly dismissed the notion due to the fact that a demons prerogative is to inflect pain and destroy as much of God's creation as possible. And as far as Raven was concerned, she had no taste for such a thing.

Her thoughts once again drifted back to the black eyed children. All the stories she's read came from people who'd refused them entry. Remarkably there were no stories from anyone who allowed the children inside. So the real question was, happened if you did?

A loud slam at Raven's door quickly forced her attention away from the thought. She looked over at her door and noticed the time 11:25 pm. She sighed and pushed herself off her bed to answer it. She figured it would be Robin who'd been waiting patiently for the answers he was so desperately seeking. Once she reached the doorway she took a deep breath and pulled the door open.

"What you couldn't wait another thirty-five minutes Boy Blunder…?" Raven said sarcastically, but paused when she found her doorway vacant.

In confusion she stepped out into the empty hallway with caution, hoping someone (namely Beast Boy) was just trying to play a trick on her. (Though it seemed in bad taste even for him.) Raven slowly moved down the hallway and called out to her friends who were nowhere in sight. The only response she received was the sound of her own voice echoing back at her.

When she reached the main room she found it cold and empty, but a faint sound could be heard coming from behind the couch. At first she didn't know what to make of it, but as she got closer it became clearer. It was a sickening grinding that resembled the scratching they heard in the walls. However this had more of a metallic nature to it as though something metal was being ground into a wooden surface. It was also quick and not as drawn out as scratching, which seemed to linger even when it fell silent.

Raven became even more uneasy, still slowly approaching the source of the sound. A horrid smell soon over took her, resembling the scent of decay and rotting flesh. She found it absolutely revolting and covering her nose and mouth, trying her best to shield her senses from the powerful odder. Once she rounded the corner she saw a figure hunched over, draped in a grey nightgown. At the sight Raven paused, looking curiously at the figure who she soon realized was Terra. It appeared the girl had some sort of metal object in her hand and was cutting into the floor.

"Terra, what are you doing?" Raven said fighting the urge to be sick. Terra remained silent and didn't even acknowledge Raven's question. "Terra? If you are tearing up the carpet you need to stop." Raven continued as she approached the selectively deaf girl. "Terra, I said stop."

Raven placed her hand on the girls shoulder and before she knew it, she shot around and slashed out at her with a sharp knife. Raven quickly cried out and gripped the lateral side of her of her upper arm feeling the swift sting of her flesh being sliced into. Taken off guard, she stumbled back to get away and tripped over her own feet. Hitting the floor with a thud she looked up to see Terra standing over her, knife still in hand over her head. Raven tried to reacted, but found herself paralyzed as Terra looked down at her, getting ready to cut into her delicate flesh again.

"You're gonna pay for that, Witch." Terra grunted in a horrible voice.

Then out of nowhere Raven saw a gloved hand wrap around Terra's wrist and twist it behind her back.

"Robin." She whispered feeling herself being released from the hold she was under.

She watched as Robin tackled the girl down which didn't take much effort on his part. Whatever had taken over Terra had subsided, letting the frightened girl surface just in time for the tears to start falling. Raven looked on as Terra wrapped her arm around her fearless leader and began to sob. A confused Robin slowly let his attack on the girl cease mostly out of confusion and placed his hand on her head.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry." She cried as Cyborg and Beast Boy entered the room. They both looked over to see Raven still on the ground, propped up on her elbows while Robin held the seemingly weak girl.

"What happened here?" Cyborg asked and ran over to helped a shocked Raven to her feet.

"She attacked me!" Terra cried falling to the floor.

"What?" Raven hissed in shocked.

"Raven, is that true?" Robin ask still heavily lost in confusion.

"No, that crazy bitch attacked me!" She exclaimed. "She even came at me with a knife look." Raven pointed to the place just under her deltoid where Terra had swiftly cut her.

"There's nothing there Raven." Beast stated questionably.

"No she cut me, I swear! Ask Robin, he saw she had a knife!"

All eyes fell on Robin who was still trying to console a traumatized Terra. "Raven, I thought I saw one, but I don't see one now."

Raven looked around at her teammates, all wearing questioning looks, especially Robin who seemed to find himself caught in the middle.

"Terra what happened? Did Raven attach you?" Beast Boy asked approaching the sobbing girl.

"Yes, she hit me." She said turning her head away from Robin's chest, revealing a dark bruise on her right cheek. "And then she tried to choke me." Sobbing she lifted her head up and ran her finger long the hand shaped bruises. Both Robin and Beast Boy looked shocked as they were not expecting the confrontation between the girls to have been so violent. "I only fought back to defend myself, I swear."

"Raven, how could you?" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"I didn't, she's lying!"

"No, you're lying! Now tell me why'd you attack Terra!" Beast Boy demanded.

"Because I called her a witch." Terra said in a soft almost vacant voice.

Raven could feel her eyes began to smolder and tried to approach Terra, but Cyborg held her back. Terra of course burrowed herself into Robin's chest again as Best Boy stood ready to protect the girl he loved.

"Seriously Raven, you haven't been yourself ever since that box showed up." Beast Boy sneered.

Raven paused as the words hit her and realized that she'd walked right into a trap. The objective was to make her look unstable causing her friends to alienate her and it did just that. Never in the years she'd known them had she even been this at odds with them and now they stood divided against her.

"I thought we were friends, Raven?" Terra said weakly looking in her direction.

"You little bitch, how can you say that? You betrayed us more times than could ever be forgiven, yet here you are. The irony is even after all of it I'm the one on trial."

"Stop it Raven. I heard you this morning; you said if I didn't stay out of your space that Jinx wouldn't be the only Titan we'd bury!"

"Believe me Terra if I wanted you dead, you'd be dead." Raven said through grit teeth and anger burning in her eyes.

"Raven, stop talking." Robin said in a stern, but calm voice.

Raven felt her heart sink into the lowest pit of her stomach. She couldn't handle the thought of the man she loved choosing a traitor over her. Her heart sank even more when she saw Starfire venture into the room from the dark hallway. Her eyes coursing with confusion and her face heavy with question, unsure why her friends were in shambles.

Robin led Terra to Beast Boy's arms then went to retrieve Raven from Cyborg. "Come on Raven, we're leaving." He said taking hold of the girl's hand.

"Wait, she beat the crap out of Terra and she's leaving. What kind of punishment is that?" Beast Boy exclaimed in disapproval.

"I'll handle this myself, Beast Boy."

"No, Raven needs to be punished for what she did! She could've killed Terra!"

"If Raven did what Terra said she did, it had to have been for good reason Beast Boy, you know that!" Robin yelled losing his calm demeanor.

"Of course you would say that, wouldn't you Robin." Terra whimpered.

"Why does friend Terra say that?" Starfire questioned from the stairs.

Terra smiled and shook her head. "Why don't you ask your _best friend _Raven what I meant. After all she has been screwing Bird Boy for over a year now. Haven't you Rae?"

Starfire looked down at her violet haired friend and looked into her amethyst eyes where she saw the betrayal reflecting itself. Raven could see the tears began to form and her heart broke in response. "Star, I'm sorry." She pleaded.

"No Raven, I am the one who is sorry. I placed trust in you and I was mistaken to do so." The heart broken girl then turned away and stormed out with tears streaming down her face.

"Star wait, please Star… I'm sorry."

"Come, Raven we're going." Robin said pulling her by the hand.

"But what about Starfire?"

"Raven, I don't think she wants to talk to either one of us right now."

Raven felt the warm tears began to fall from her eyes as she was led away by her masked boyfriend.

"Robin wait! You can't just take Raven and leave. Not until we get this straightened out." Cyborg called.

"Raven go outside."

"But Robin?"

"I said go, Raven!"

She nodded a bit frightened. He's never raised his voice like that to her before, but emotions were high and she knew he was only trying to protect her. She looked at her teammates one last time, then turned and ran to the main entry.

"For real Robin, you're just gonna let Raven get away with this?" Beast Boy said furrowing his brow.

"No I'm going to get to the bottom of it, but I can't do it here."

"Robin, she lied to us, badly may I remind you. She even threatened to kill Terra"

"Yeah and don't you think Raven is smart enough to come up with a better plan that didn't make her look so guilty?"

"So what, as long as Raven is sleeping with you she can get away with whatever she wants."

"No, Beast Boy, I love her and I'll do anything to protect her. I thought of all people you would understand that." Robin said before turning and running out after Raven.

The other two Titans looked on, unsure of what to say. Beast Boy looked down at Terra and held her tight feeling dejected by Robin's words. It seemed betrayal had clearly prevailed, leaving only broken pieces scattered along the floor around them. Because even if they fixed the trust that lay shattered at their feet, they would still always see the cracks in each other's reflection.

Cyborg found himself confused and bewildered by the sights that took place in front of him. Deep down he knew that Raven and Robin loved each other; it was hard not to see, (unless you made yourself blind to it like Starfire did.) But he knew that didn't excuse them hiding it from them and it certainly didn't excuse Raven's behavior toward her teammates. However, Cyborg knew that Robin had a point. Raven would have been smart enough not to get caught and more importantly, she would have never done such a thing in the first place.

The Robotic man looked down at the floor when he saw something unusual catch his eye. Beast Boy was trying to console Terra when he heard the mechanical man's voice say, "What the hell is this?" He held up an old would board that bore words and letters on its face. Dry blood still reminded on its surface and a large 9 had been carved deep into the wood.

Beast Boy looked at the board with a regretful recognition. He'd almost forgotten about it, but wasn't really sure what to say, but the truth. But before he could speak he was cut off by Terra who said, "Ask Raven." Then freed herself from her lover's grip and walked toward the hallway with Beast Boy on her tail.


End file.
